Railroad-tie.



`106. I 1? q i* y COMING on PLASTIC. Cross Referen/ XAMINER 9 .No.- .644.7I0 Patenten Mans, le o. A. L. A. mMMELwmaHT.

RAILRUAD TIE.

(nume-tion am Aug. s1, 1an.)

(Nu Modal.)

106. COMPOSITIONS,

COATING R PLASTIC.

UNITED STATES limes Reference sf/ff, 7/0 A PATENT OFFICE.

ABRAHAM L. A. HIMMELWRIGHT, .OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO TIIE NEW JERSEY WIRE CLOTH COMPANY, OF TRENTON, NEW JERSEY.

RAILROAD-TIE.

SPECIFICATION forming part 0f Letters Patent N0. 644,710, dated March 6, 1900.

Applicationl filed August 31, 1898. Serial No. 689,917. (No model.)

To afZZ whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, ABRAHAM L. A. HIM- MELWRIGHT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Railroad- Ties, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to an improved crosstie for railroad use, the object being to provide a molded tie that shall afford the desired resistance to crushing or breaking dur ing the handling incident to shipment and extending longitudinally of the tie and embedded therein, so as to secure the required resistance of the tie against breaking crosswise. The metal frame is formed, preferably, of woven or netted wire, but may be formed of wire arranged in any suitable manner or of perforated or expanded sheet metal or met-al strips or small rods or of any other form of reticulated metal. The longitudinal bars may be rectangular, round, or, in fact, of any cross-section desired, preferably such as to secure a large surface exposed to the friction of the concrete in proportion to the area of section, and, if desired, they may be corrugated or twisted or formed in any other suitable manner to provide an irregular crosssection, and thus secure a stron ger hold upon fthe molded material.

The material in which the metal frame and longitudinal bars are molded may be varied widely and may be any light porous incomsand and Portland cement. The proportions may be varied as occasion may require; but I have secured good results with one part, by quanti, of good Portland ement two of good sharpasgggan ve o steam-ashes and recommen these proportions, although airly good results may be secured with a larger Aproportion of sand and ashes. ,i

The accompanying drawings 4show a rail- V road-tie embodying all thefeaturesof the in Vention in their preferred form, and this construction will now be described, and the features forming the invention will then be specifically pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a longitudinal section of a tie. Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the same. Referring to said drawings, A is a body of molded plastic material, preferably of the composition above described, in which is molded and embedded a metal frame a, which EXAMINER in the preferred form shown consists of a f sheet of woven or netted wire bent to approxi- A l mately-rectangular form, with the wire a short distance inside the faces of the tie, so as to inclose and hold in position the principal mass of the tie. This wire-netting should be of quite coarse mesh and preferably is of threefourths-inch to one-and-one-half-inch mesh material, as the plastic material on opposite sides of the netting thus forms substantially one body, and all danger of cleavageon the lines of the wire between the portions of plastic material inside and outside of the wire is avoided. This wire-netting a is combined with longitudinal strengthening-bars b, arranged within the corners formed by the bent lathing, these bars being shown as round in cross-section and being of such size as to secure the desired resistance of the tie to breaking crosswise. With these bars bare preferably used also other bars c, shown as of smaller diameter, which are arranged outside the wire-netting, two at each corner and on opposite sides of the bars b, the netting a thus being held inside and outside by the bars b c. While this arrangement of the netting and longitudinal bars is preferred and in itself forms a specific part of the invention, and a tie thus constructed'forms a part of the present invention, other suitable arrangements of metal frame and longitudinal bars may be used.

In the manufacture of this tie the woven or netted wire or other metal frame will be pref- 5 erably molded into the tie, so as to be at approximately-uniform distances from each of the faces of the tie, as shown, the molds being so designed that the material m'ay be .rammed in position or deposited through a 1o nozzle under air-pressure or in any other Silitable manner that may be found economical and efficient.

It will be seen that this invention provides a tie in which the mass of material molded to 4 15 form the tie is bound and held together by the woven or netted wire or other similar metal frame used, so that the breaking or.

splitting oi of large portions of the tie in spikin gis avoided and a tie of great resistance zo against crushing and splitting secured,while the longitudinal bars secure the required resistance to breaking crosswise.

l. A railroad-tie formed of a solid block of 25 molded material having embeddedtherein and within the faces of the tie a metal frame formed of reticulated metal with stren-gthening-bars extending longitudinally of the tie,

substantially as described.

.. ...w-pria.

i 2. A railroad-tie formed of a solid block of 3o molded material containing steam-ashes and a suitable binding material, such as cement, having embedded therein and within the faces of the tie a metal frame formed of reticulated metal with strengthening-bars eX- 35 tending longitudinally of the tie, substantially as described.

3. A railroad-tie having embedded therein a metal frame bent to rectangular form and lying at approximately-uniform distances in- 4o bars c on opposite sides of the bars b outside 5o the frame, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ABRAHAM L. A. lllllllllELWRlGll'l.

, Witnesses:

C. J. SAWYER, y A. L. KENT. 

